Araps and the Gramps would have to be great destinations for all of those things - depends on how hot you like it. I have been for a few summer trips and only ever spent one day not climbing because of the heat.

The Blue Mountains is a bit cooler and has plenty of sport, single pitch trad and a few easier multipitches. There are also good cooler crags where you can go on a hot day.

For a bit more exciting single pitch sport and trad you cant beat Point Perpendicular. Plenty of shade from midday at the major areas and if you can't find a seabreeze there then you wont find a seabreeze anywhere.

Summer is the time for Tassie but I've never been - I'm sure others can fill you in.

Tasmania for Xmas - is the go.. for those who love cracks you have Ben Lomond.. for the gun sport climbers there's Star factory and hillwood.. Those into adventure and big routes there Fed Peak, Frenchmans and the Tyndalls..
I'm from the NW Coast so I'm partial to the big easy Rysavy Ridge adventure on Mt Roland.. check out - http://www.thesarvo.com/confluence/display/thesarvo/Climbing+Guides
And I must finish with my favourite White Water Wall.. great location, campsite and climbs..
It also can snow in Summer (highland areas).. so be prepared..

I went in February a few years back and would go again. We had one rainy night with drizzle the following day during an ~8 day trip. We didn't do any of the big routes in the gorge though, I think Where Angels Fear to Tread is meant to bake in summer. Still, plenty of climbing to be done!

Angels is doable in summer, you just need to wake up early and move fairly quick. I found it helps a lot if you know exactly where you're going on the walk in. On a rest day prior to climbing it I walked to the base and back out. We made far better time on the day we actually did the route.

Take it from me, head to tassie.. Christmas is when I get time off for road trip climbing so I have done frog two years in a row, one week down at araps/gramps another year.
Last Christmas I went down to tassie and it was prefect. 34 when we got there (tail of a heat wave) and 16 the next day.
You should be able to line up someone out of Hobart, I could give you a few names plus I can lend you a guide. Easy :)

On 2/11/2012 benjenga wrote:>Take it from me, head to tassie.. Christmas is when I get time off for>road trip climbing so I have done frog two years in a row...
Holy shit! You did Frog in Summer and came back!??!? You must really love Frog.

I've done Frog in summer in the deep dark past, and would consider it again. Get up at Sparrows', climb till 10 or 11, go to Boonah for lunch and/or a swim, then climb again after about 5. You get a storm in the evening and have to work around that, but it's still OK.

I've also done Arapiles in summer, and you end up doing something similar, or baking on classic bumblefests without really caring too much. Same with the Bluies. I've even climbed on the Blackboard Wall at Berowra in summer, though that was just unpleasant.

Go climbing. Have fun. Choose shady routes with decent holds, or get on hard stuff early.

As others have said, summer Araps is great. Remember there's also heading of brilliant routes in the shady gullies so even on a very hot day you can get quality climbing in and from 4 onwards most of the mount moves into shade.

On 2/11/2012 Tastrad wrote:>Duang Dork wrote previously: Yep, just don't ask for a guidebook, and watch>out for the local climber, who some reckon is harder to get on with than>the landowner>>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DY9nVETzIY

Well, that was very pleasant. Talk about a relaxed attitude, given I was refering to someone else, and to think I used to fail to see why people at Hillwood mentioned your name and number are on the back of the public toilet doors at Launceston.

Well, you know, Arapiles is no too bad in summer. I went with my boys and some other friends in 2009 and 2010 for a week & 1/2 each time. It will be alot less dry and dusty this year too. Spent most nights at the Pines but a few in the pub abins, including the lockdown (46 degree ) night. The Pines cools down fairly well at night- a thick jacket is needed most nights- though strange events occur. My kids still ask if we will get beetle pasta ever again- a huge cloud of beetles blew into the Pines just as we were dishing up. On fire ban days we cooked using the electric barbecue in Natimuk. I thought i cleaned it pretty well but the next day it was spotless!! You can do a nice trip to the Grampians too and find some cool waterfall walks, swim in a lake there or whatever. Be warned, Horsham Pic theatre is NOT air conditioned as i found out after walking 300m after parking the car on a 40+ degree day.

Climbing wise just take advantage of Arapiles' topography. Tiger wall Watchtower are good first thing but keep moving! RHS of Central Gully has a lot of routes that you can generally get shady. Thunder Crack is always cool, so is Lamplighter. I did do hot Flap in the sun once, just so i knew what the name meant. It's true! Organ pipes and south is cool in the afternoons. The Rack is a great prep for a pre dinner sauv blanc. The Pines are almost deserted because of the heat worries.

Tassie is good fun but be prepared for walks, heat, ice, snow , rain and even some rockclimbing. Weve been to Frenchmans(Jan 2x), Federation (Feb), Coles Bay (Jan) Launceston, Ben Lomond; they are all very pleasant in summer (well except BL after the 3rd Jam climb). The air in Tassie seems to have a special quality .